Balefire LLC Grows Stock Position in Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT)

Balefire LLC lifted its position in shares of Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT - Free Report) by 13.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,973 shares of the software giant's stock after purchasing an additional 1,051 shares during the quarter. Microsoft comprises 1.2% of Balefire LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Balefire LLC's holdings in Microsoft were worth $3,368,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fosun International Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Fosun International Ltd now owns 6,633 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $2,490,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC boosted its stake in Microsoft by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Retirement Financial Solutions LLC now owns 1,050 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $443,000 after buying an additional 24 shares during the last quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel grew its holdings in Microsoft by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Kuhn & Co Investment Counsel now owns 3,286 shares of the software giant's stock valued at $1,385,000 after buying an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group increased its stake in Microsoft by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. Alliance Wealth Management Group now owns 5,617 shares of the software giant's stock worth $2,368,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Guidance Point Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Microsoft by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Guidance Point Advisors LLC now owns 4,294 shares of the software giant's stock worth $1,811,000 after acquiring an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. 71.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Judson Althoff sold 16,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $458.18, for a total transaction of $7,330,880.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 98,010 shares in the company, valued at $44,906,221.80. This represents a 14.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, EVP Amy Coleman sold 13,243 shares of Microsoft stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $452.01, for a total value of $5,985,968.43. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 43,100 shares in the company, valued at $19,481,631. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 54,743 shares of company stock worth $24,921,913 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 0.03% of the company's stock.

Microsoft Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of MSFT traded down $4.10 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $520.84. 16,045,615 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 19,850,260. The company has a current ratio of 1.35, a quick ratio of 1.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company's 50 day moving average is $495.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $437.64. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 trillion, a P/E ratio of 38.18, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.06. Microsoft Corporation has a 52 week low of $344.79 and a 52 week high of $555.45.

Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The software giant reported $3.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $3.35 by $0.30. Microsoft had a net margin of 36.15% and a return on equity of 32.44%. The business had revenue of $76.44 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $73.79 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $2.95 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 18.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Microsoft Corporation will post 13.08 earnings per share for the current year.

Microsoft Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 11th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, August 21st will be issued a dividend of $0.83 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, August 21st. This represents a $3.32 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.6%. Microsoft's dividend payout ratio is currently 24.34%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $650.00 target price (up from $600.00) on shares of Microsoft in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "neutral" rating on shares of Microsoft in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on Microsoft from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Microsoft from $500.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirty-one have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $609.86.

About Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation develops and supports software, services, devices and solutions worldwide. The Productivity and Business Processes segment offers office, exchange, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, office 365 Security and Compliance, Microsoft viva, and Microsoft 365 copilot; and office consumer services, such as Microsoft 365 consumer subscriptions, Office licensed on-premises, and other office services.